Fundraising Robot or Nonprofit Panhandler?

The future of nonprofit fundraising?

Everyone who has ever tried to raise money knows that, the number one reason people give money is “because they are asked”. The problem most non-profits run into is not the lack of donors it is the lack of “askers”, there is a new tool being tested on Scotland streets that hopes to alleviate that issue.

Let me introduce, DON-8r (pronounced “donator“) a small fundraising robot designed to move about public places powered by change donations. Think of it as a roomba that is coin operated. I found the original article on Super Punch there are additional photos and video posted as well of DON-8r in action.

There are the obvious pros and cons to this type of device, the first thing I thought of was of course theft and if you watch the video you can see poor DON-8r is the victim of random street violence but in addition to that how much change do people actually carry? I can see this being used at other more private functions if the goal is to raise funds, but in that case I suggest getting that drink serving robot from Sharper Image I am sure it is much cheaper. This robot may not revolutionize fundraising but it will definitely build awareness of a nonprofit it is a novelty seems short lived. The prototype appears to say only, “hello” and “thank you”. It would be exciting if it had the technology to utter more phrases like a Teddy Ruxpin or even a Furby to educate about a nonprofit’s mission as well as fund-raise.

So unfortunately for everyone who ever hoped that there would be some other way to raise money or solicit donations for now we will have to be content with still asking.